About

Research at The Embodied Brain Lab focuses on examining the effects of mind-body-movement practices, such as dance, yoga, and meditation, on brain function and physiology.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Visual arts
• Psychotherapist
• Medicine
• Social psychology
• Psychiatry
• Clinical psychology
• Biology
• Psychoanalysis
• Cognitive psychology
• Virology
• Internal medicine
• Art
• Neuroscience
• Cognitive science
• Communication

Selected publications

• Uncovering the Body-Brain Connection through the Emerging Field of Dance Neuroscience

  ACSMʼs Health & Fitness Journal · 2026-02-23

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Apply It! • By integrating dance into your practice, you can provide a holistic approach that addresses physical, cognitive, and emotional health for your clients. • Dance can be used safely by a variety of clinical populations, including those with mental health issues and neurodegenerative disorders, to support physical and mental health and well-being.

  PublisherDOI

• Theta oscillations are associated with movement during choreographed and improvised dance - a case series with Memphis Jookin’: The Show

  Research Square · 2026-01-05

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Methods for measuring interpersonal behavioral and neural synchrony during group music therapy for individuals with dementia and their caregivers: A case series study

  Journal of Alzheimer s Disease · 2025-04-23 · 1 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Background: Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) are neurodegenerative disorders that afflict 1 in 9 older adults. As pharmacological interventions for ADRD are often ineffective and cause rampant side effects, interest has increased in finding adjunctive, non-pharmacological approaches. Music therapy may be especially beneficial for individuals with ADRD and their caregivers as music is a form of non-verbal communication. Objective: In this case series, we describe a 12-week group music therapy program for individuals with ADRD and their caregivers. Methods: Brain activity was recorded with hyperscanning electroencephalography (EEG) during each music therapy session from the individual with ADRD (n = 3), caregiver (n = 3), and music therapist (n = 1). Video recordings allowed for assessment of movement behavior and affective state responses. Results: This 12-week case series of group music therapy for individuals and their caregivers had a 66% retention and 95.8% adherence rate. We had success collecting behavioral and neural data using 360-degree video capture in combination with EEG. Video recordings allowed us to analyze affective state and nonverbal communication metrics. After pre-processing, neural recordings were clean and able to be analyzed for various neural metrics of interest. Conclusions: A human-centered design approach can be helpful for implementing longitudinal, non-pharmacological interventions in this vulnerable population. A team-science approach with a collective of creative arts therapists, neuroscientists, dementia care experts, creative technologists, and gerontology experts contributed to the conduction of this work. Future studies should examine the effects of music therapy on behavioral and neural outcomes, especially as it relates to interpersonal behavioral and neural synchrony.

  PublisherDOI

• The benefits of chronic sport participation and acute exercise on mental health and executive functioning in adolescents

  Scientific Reports · 2025-07-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Adolescents are experiencing a growing mental health crisis, with one in seven afflicted by conditions such as depression and anxiety. This crisis is compounded by insufficient physical activity, as over 80% of adolescents fail to meet the World Health Organization's recommendation of at least 60 min of daily exercise. This combination of rising mental health disorders and sedentary behavior presents a serious public health challenge, increasing the risk of long-term cognitive and emotional impairments. While both chronic and acute exercise improve mental health and executive functioning, there is a significant gap in the literature exploring these effects within the same study, particularly among adolescents. Moreover, limited research has assessed how different types of sports differentially impact mental and cognitive health outcomes. This study uniquely addresses these gaps by investigating the effects of chronic sports participation (strategic vs. self-paced) and a single bout of acute exercise (physical education class) on mental health and executive functioning in adolescent athletes (n = 44) and non-athletes (n = 19). Our findings demonstrate that chronic participation in strategic sports significantly reduces stress, while self-paced sports enhance cognitive flexibility. Additionally, across all groups, a single session of acute exercise led to marked improvements in stress, anxiety, depression, and processing speed. These results highlight the importance of both chronic and acute physical activity in adolescent health and underscore the differential cognitive and emotional benefits of sport type. This study advances the literature by showing that physical education and sport participation, in school settings, are critical to fostering mental and cognitive health in adolescents, providing a novel understanding of exercise interventions.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• 489 Examining the clinical utility of dance to support social connection - Explorations at the level of the brain, heart, and body

  Journal of Clinical and Translational Science · 2024-04-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Social isolation/loneliness is a public health crisis and one that is unlikely to be solved through pharmacology. Nonpharmacological approaches, such as dance, are needed. The objective of this study is to investigate the physiological correlates of dance-induced improvements in social connection. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Participants were randomly assigned to participate for 4 weeks (2 times per week, 90-minute sessions) in either 1) improvisational dance training (experimental group; n=7); or a 2) dance movie watching experience (control group; n=7). Before and after the intervention, using mobile brain-body imaging techniques, participants and their instructor had their brain (via electroencephalography) and body physiology (via photoplethysmography) recorded during a series of verbal and nonverbal interactive experiences. Participants were also video recorded via 4 surrounding cameras for later motion capture analysis. Neuropsychological assessments were also conducted before and after the intervention. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: We found that dance significantly increased social skills including empathy, interpersonal skills, emotional regulation, mindfulness, and attention. Additionally, we found that dance significantly increased interbrain synchrony during nonverbal experiences including theta (4-8 Hz), beta (12-35 Hz), and gamma (35-45 Hz) frequencies in the occipital lobe. Increases in interbrain synchrony were also positively correlated with increases in empathy. Additionally, intercardiac synchrony between the participant and instructor showed a significant correlation at post-intervention only. Future investigations will focus on the relationship between interbrain, intercardiac, and movement synchrony. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings support the idea that dance increases interpersonal synchrony at the level of the brain, heart, and behavior. Understanding the neural and somatic mechanisms of social behaviors will help promote understanding and development of interventions for the critical problem of social isolation and loneliness.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Assessing Human Spatial Navigation in a Virtual Space and its Sensitivity to Exercise

  Journal of Visualized Experiments · 2024-01-26 · 5 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Spatial navigation (SN) is the ability to locomote through the environment, which requires an understanding of where one is located in time and space. This capacity is known to rely on the sequential firing of place cells within the hippocampus. SN is an important behavior to investigate as this process deteriorates with age, especially in neurodegenerative disorders. However, the investigation of SN is limited by the lack of sophisticated behavioral techniques to assess this hippocampal-dependent task. Therefore, the goal of this protocol was to develop a novel, real-world approach to studying SN in humans. Specifically, an active virtual SN task was developed using a cross-platform game engine. During the encoding phase, participants navigated their way through a virtual city to locate landmarks. During the remembering phase, participants remembered where these reward locations were and delivered items to these locations. Time to find each location was captured and episodic memory was assessed by a free recall phase, including aspects of place, order, item, and association. Movement behavior (x, y, and z coordinates) was assessed through an asset available in the game engine. Importantly, results from this task demonstrate that it accurately captures both spatial learning and memory abilities as well as episodic memory. Further, findings indicate that this task is sensitive to exercise, which improves hippocampal functioning. Overall, the findings suggest a novel way to track human hippocampal functioning over the course of time, with this behavior being sensitive to physical activity training paradigms.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Long-term Exercise Improves Cognition, Mood, And Motivation While Affecting Brain State In Low-fit, Middle-aged Adults

  Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise · 2024-09-16

  articleSenior author

  Physical activity is known to improve sleep and mental health outcomes in humans. However, the effects of exercise on hippocampal-dependent functions, such as spatial memory, pattern separation, and novel object recognition, remain understudied in humans. PURPOSE: To examine the effects of long-term exercise on neurobehavioral processes, including psychological state and cognitive function, as well as brain physiology. METHODS: Healthy male and female adults between the ages of 30 and 59 (n = 44) completed the study. All participants were sedentary and low-fit, meaning that they engaged in 2 or fewer aerobic exercise sessions per week in the past 3 months. Participants were randomly assigned to 3 months of a physically active (n = 17) or sedentary (n = 27) experience. Before and after the 3-month period, participants completed self-report questionnaires and neuropsychological assessments. 20-electrode EEG data were recorded during a 10-min open eyes session where participants looked at a cross-hair in the middle of a computer screen. Each group participated in three 45-minute sessions per week during the 3-month period. A session was an indoor cycling class (physically active) or a non-physically active video game (sedentary/control). RESULTS: Exercisers reported a significant improvement in positive affect and body image. Participants in the exercise group maintained exercise motivation (BREQ-2: Relative Autonomy Index [RAI]: time F(1,14) = 3.280, p = 0.092, partial η2 = 0.190), whereas exercise motivation decreased in controls (time F(1,12) = 5.124, p = 0.043, partial η2 = 0.299). Exercise also improved response time for correct responses on the Stoop Trask (Exercisers: time F(1,16) = 15.035, p = 0.001, partial η2 = 0.484; Sedentary: time F(1,10) = 0.033, p = 0.860, partial η2 = 0.003). Relative power in delta, theta, and alpha frequency bands in EEG also increased in the exercise group. There was a significant correlation between theta activity and body image (r = -0.477, p = 0.025). Central alpha activity was also significantly associated with exercise motivation (r = 0.490, p = 0.021). Future EEG explorations will examine changes in intra-brain coherence during resting state measures. CONCLUSION: Long-term exercise benefits brain function and physiology in middle-aged adults who were originally sedentary. National Center for Advancing Translational Science of the National Institutes of Health Award UL1TR003015/KL2TR003016.

  PublisherDOI

• Dissociation and other trauma symptomatology are linked to imbalance in the competing neurobehavioral decision systems

  Frontiers in Psychology · 2024-01-31 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Objective: Dissociation is a conscious state characterized by alterations in sensation and perception and is thought to arise from traumatic life experiences. Previous research has demonstrated that individuals with high levels of dissociation show impairments in cognitive-emotional processes. Therefore, using the Competing Neurobehavioral Decisions System (CNDS) theory, we used statistical modeling to examine whether dissociative experience and trauma symptoms are independently predicted by impulsivity, risk-seeking, affective state (i.e., anxiety, depression, stress, and negative affect), and trauma history. Method: = 557 English-speaking participants in the United States. Using Qualtrics, participants answered a series of self-reported questionnaires and completed several neurocognitive tasks. Three independent multiple linear regression models were conducted to assess whether impulsivity, risk seeking, affective state, and trauma history predict depersonalization, trauma symptoms, and PTSD symptoms. Results: As hypothesized, we found that depersonalization and other trauma symptoms are associated with heightened impulsivity, increased risk-seeking, impaired affective states, and a history of traumatic experiences. Conclusion: We demonstrate that an imbalanced CNDS (i.e., hyperimpulsive/hypoexecutive), as evidenced by decreased future valuation, increased risk seeking, and impaired affective states, predicts heightened depersonalization and other trauma and PTSD symptomatology. This is the first time that dissociation has been connected to delay discounting (i.e., the tendency to place more value on rewards received immediately compared to farther in the future). Interventions that positively impact areas of the CNDS, such as episodic future thinking or mindfulness meditation, may be a target to help decrease dissociative symptoms.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Mother-child Dance Improves Mental Health Of Mothers With Moderate To Severe Levels Of Stress, Depression, Or Anxiety And Their Children.

  Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise · 2024-09-16

  articleSenior author

  PURPOSE: Moderate to high levels of stress, depression, or anxiety in mothers negatively impacts their personal well being, their child’s well being, and the parent-child relationship. Stress in mothers can impact the neurobiology of their child, furthering a cycle of dysregulation that can be measured at the level of the brain and immune system. We hypothesize that coordinated movement practices, such as dance, may help improve mental health, brain health, and immune processes. METHODS: This study investigated the effect of a mother-child Brain-Compatible Dance Education curriculum on behavior, interbrain synchrony, and immune markers of inflammation in mothers and their children with moderate to severe levels of stress, depression, or anxiety. Mother-child dyads were randomly assigned to participate in two weeks of either mother-child dance (n = 11) or play (n = 6). Before and after the experience, mothers answered a series of self-reported mental health metrics and all participants provided saliva samples and had their brain activity recorded via electroencephalography during various interactive experiences. RESULTS: Preliminary results indicate that mother-child dance significantly increased positive affect (t(15) = 2.107, p = 0,026), decreased depression (Beck Depression Inventory t(14) = -1.791, p = 0.047; DSM 5 Cross-Cutting Symptom measure t(11.580) = -1.995, p = 0.035) and parental stress (t(14) = -1.849, p = 0.043) and improved positive aspects of the parent-child relationship (t(5.482) = 2.346, p = 0.031). Additionally, salivary interleukin-6 (IL-6) was significantly correlated between mother and child (r = 0.9, p = 0.05), indicating synchronicity at the level of the immune system. Future analyses will focus on the influence of mother-child dance on interbrain synchrony and its relationship to behavioral and immune outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: These initial results demonstrate a positive effect of mother-child dance on mothers with moderate-high levels of stress, depression, or anxiety, and their children. Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment Scholars Award at Virginia Tech

  PublisherDOI

• Review for "Cortical oscillations are modified by expertise in dance and music: Evidence from live dance audience"

  2024-03-15

  peer-review1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Warren K. Bickel

  Biomedical Research Institute

  25 shared

• Medha K. Satyal

  Virginia Tech

  17 shared

• Liqa N. Athamneh

  Virginia Tech

  16 shared

• Wendy Suzuki

  New York University

  14 shared

• Noor Tasnim

  Virginia Tech

  14 shared

• Douglas J. Oberlin

  City University of New York

  13 shared

• Daniel F. English

  Virginia Tech

  11 shared

• William H. Craft

  Biomedical Research Institute

  10 shared

Labs

• Embodied Brain LabPI

Awards & honors

• College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Service Awar…
• Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment Scholars Awa…
• iTHRIV (integrated Translation Health Research Institute of…
• NIH K and New Investigator R01 Proposal Preparation Program,…
• Addiction Recovery Research Center Impact Award, Virginia Te…